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C. W. ANDERSON. H00 ELEVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. II, 1917 Patented May 16, 1922.

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CHARLES W. ANDERSON, OCE BROOKLYN, NET/V YORK.

H01) ELEVATOR.

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Application filed April 11, 1917.

ed certain new and useful Improvements in a Hod Elevator, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a hod elevator, and particularly to improved means for causing the operation of the elevator to be automatically arrested at appropriate times during its use.

A more particular object is to provide simple and efficient driving connections for operating the elevator from a suitable motor, and to provide means whereby the connections are automatically broken at a given time, as when a hod is elevated to the proper elevation, said connections to remain broken, regardless of the disposal of the hod, until the connections are deliberately manually reset, to the end that the elevator will have no movement while the hod is being removed or immediately following the removal of the hod.

A further object is to provide asimple and eiiicient form of driving connections.

Other objects and aims of the invention, more or less specific than those referred to above, will be in part obvious and in part pointed out in the course of the following description of the elements, combinations, arrangements of parts and applications of principles, constituting the invention; and the scope of protection contemplated will be indicated in the appended claim.

in the accompanying drawings which are to be taken as a part of this specification, and in which I have shown merely a preferred form of embodiment of the invennon:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a standards 18 which supportthe upper wheels hod elevator with driving connections constructed in accordance with this invention, parts being illustrated in section.

Figure 2 is side elevational view, partly diagrammatic, and parts being shown in dotted positions for illustrating the operation of the driving connectionsof Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the drive mechanism shown in Fig. 1, and

Figure 4c is a fragmentary detail view illustrating a modification.

Referring to the drawing for describing in detail the structure which is illustrated Specification of Letters Patent. Patntgd Ma 16; 1922 Serial No. 161,343.

thereln, the reference character L indicates the elevator chain. This passes over wheels 1 at its upper and lower ends in a well known manner, said wheels being mounted upon shafts 2. The upper shaft 2 carries a gear 3 which is mounted to be driven from a drive pinion 4 through a train 5 and 6. Ro-

tation of the pinion 4: will cause the forward lead 7 of the chain L to move upwardly so that any hods or the like, as 8, in Fig. 2,

which are supported upon the lead 7 will be caused to move upwardly. When the hod reaches a given position it is desirable that the movement of the chain, should automatically cease lest the hod be carried to too wheel 1.

Various means have heretofore beenemployed for automatically stopping the move.- ment of the chain.

great an elevation, or entirely over the top By the present invention the motor, as G, 1

is connected by a belt 9 with a pulley 10 which is fixed to the shaft 11 upon which the pinion 4: is also fixed. An idler 12 is carried upon a swinging arm 13 mounted on shaft 14 and a pull rod15 is connected to the free end of the arm 13 for pulling the idler 12 into engagement with the belt 9, said idler and associated parts thereby serving as a tightening means for the belt. The belt normally is loose upon the motor pulley and v the pulley 10 so that unless the idler 12 is in tightening position no motion is transmitted from the motor to the pulley 10.

The relation of the shaft l t to the belt is such that the arm 13 and the idler 12 nor mally hang away from the belt. A ratchet 16 is fixed to the shaft 1 1 and a pawl 17 is arranged to engage the teeth of the ratchet for holding the arm 13 and the idler 12 in tightening position. 1

A swinging arm H is mounted upon the engagement with the teeth of the ratchet 16.

The arm H is arranged at the proper point where it is intended the hods shall be delivered, and it will be seen, that when a hod has lifted the arm and has thereby removed the pawl from retaining position upon the ratchet, the belt tightening means will be released and will fall by gravity away from the belt. The motor, which may be constantly rotating, is released from the pulley 10 by the slackening of the belt and said pulley will stop and leave the pinions andgears 3 to 6 dead so that the chain will stop and the bed will stand ready to be removed. lVhen the hod has been removed the 'arm will return to its original position and the pawl will fall again into engage ment with the teeth of the ratchet but the idler 12 will not move to belt tightening position until the workman has drawn outwardly upon the pull rod 15. The pawl will hold the idler in any position to which it is drawn until the arm H is again operated.

By making the belt tightening means inoperative until manually moved the danger of a resumption of movement by the chain before the workman has freed himself is entirely avoided. This is a very important consideration in view of the fact that various articles follow one another closely upon the chain and one of these articles is likely to injure a workman where the movement of the chain is automatically resumed upon the removal of anarticle above it.

Furthermore, it is frequently found in practice that certain workmen prefer to have the hod stop at a different level from other workmen. A tall workman will be content to have the hod automatically stopped as described above but a shorter workman will prefer to have the bed stop at a lower level. By the present invention the workmen are enabled tostop the beds wherever they desire by simply lifting the arm H by hand.

The belt tightening means will be released in the same manner as if the hod had lifted the arm and the chain will stand still until the workman resets the belt tightener.

The arm H may be of any desired form but in the instance illustrated it is made U-shape so as to straddle the chain. The opposite legs of the U are bent into L-shape and are pivoted as at 21 to the standards 18. The heels as 22 of the L engage portions-ofthe standards to retain the arm in normal position and extending portions 23 are provided for arresting the upward movement of the arm.

The usual pawl and ratchet arrangement, as shown at 24: is provided for preventing the movement of the chain in a contrary direction.

As shown in Fig. 3, the shafts 11 and 1a which carry pulley 10 and the belt tightening device are supported in a frame made up of opposite side pieces 25 and 26 which are connected. together by a tie rod 27, a. portion of the tie rod as at 28 serving as a pivotal support for the pawl 17. By this means the pulley 10 and its associated parts together with the belt tightening device and its associated parts maybe made up as an entity and fixed in position upon any suit- ,able supports, as 29 in proper position relative to the motor Gr. Bolts or the like as 30 may be employed for detachably connecting the side pieces 25 and 26 to the supports 29.

In Figure l is illustrateda modification of the manner of connecting the pawl 17. In

this instance the pawl is shown to be mounted upon the shaft 11 instead of upon a part of the tie rod 27. In the instance illustrated the motor is contained within a box or casting 31 of which the supports 29 form a unitary part.

, Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: I

As an article of manufacture, a power control mechanism for hod elevatorsor the like, comprising a power pulley, a drive pulley, means including a movable member operable to connect and disconnect said pulleys will, a shaft upon which said movable member is pivotally mounted and adapted to swing normally to disconnecting position, means to manually swing said movable member to connecting position, a ratchet fixed to move positively with said movable member, a supporting frame for supporting all of said parts as a single entity which may be moved into and out of cooperative relation with an elevator at will, and a device also comprised in said entity and operable normally to engage the ratchet for preventing swinging of the movable member to disconnecting position, said device including means by which it may be readily connected to be operated by the elevator mechanism.

In testimony whereof T afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES W, ANDERSQN.

V itnesses i L. GERSFORD HANDY, GUSTAV GENZLINGER. 

